A Minnesota judge has ruled a transgender weightlifter can compete in women’s powerlifting competitions.
In his ruling in a discrimination case against USA Powerlifting, District Judge Patrick Diamond said the organization must “cease and desist from all unfair discriminatory practices” after denying transgender weightlifter JayCee Cooper access to “the full and equal enjoyment of public accommodation because of sexual orientation.”
Cooper, who was born a male, filed a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights in 2019 alleging the organization violated the state’s Human Rights Act by banning her from competing in the women’s division, The Epoch Times reported.
Cooper also filed a lawsuit in state court in 2021 alleging sex and sexual orientation discrimination against both USAPL and Powerlifting Minnesota.
In that lawsuit, attorneys for the weightlifter said Cooper started powerlifting in 2018 and “fell in love with the sport.”
“Ms. Cooper sees powerlifting as a way to find strength within herself and has found a home in the community of strong supportive women who come together around a shared love of sport,” the lawyers wrote.
Cooper had been training to compete in the USAPL Minnesota State Bench Press Championship and the Minnesota Women’s State Championship in January and February 2019, respectively.
But in December 2018, Cooper got an email from USAPL stating she couldn’t compete because of her transgender identity, The Epoch Times reported.
“USAPL then revoked her competition card, which means that she was not eligible to compete in future USAPL events,” the lawsuit states, referring to Cooper. “USAPL MN then went on to hold both championship events, at which all transgender women athletes were prohibited from competing.”
Diamond agreed.
“By denying Cooper the right to participate in the female category, the category consistent with her self-identification, USAPL denied her the full and equal enjoyment of the services, support, and facilities USAPL offered its members,” Diamond wrote in his ruling, The Epoch Times reported.
“It separated Cooper and segregated her and, in doing so, failed to fully perform the contractual obligations it agreed to when it accepted Cooper’s money and issued Cooper a membership card.”
The judge also noted in his 46-page ruling “the harm is in making a person pretend to be something different, the implicit message being that who they are is less than.”
A trial on possible damages has been set for May 1.
In a statement to Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE-TV, Cooper called the decision a “win.”
“After years of experiencing discrimination from USA Powerlifting, and the backlash that has occurred due to that, of course I have complex feelings about the sport,” Cooper said. “But I think that this win — [it] is a representation of where we can move forward.”
The ruling comes after 22 Republican senators, including Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Mike Lee of Utan reintroduced a bill aimed at protecting female athletes and ensuring fairness and safety in women’s sports at educational institutions across the United States, The Epoch Times reported.
The Biden administration is expected to finalize rules in May forcing institutions to allow biological males sharing women-only spaces and competing in women’s sports, the news outlet noted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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